Bottle transfer device



Sept. 3, 1940. F. E. TAYLOR 2,213,774

BOTTLE TRANSFER DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1937 .2 Sheets -Shejet 53 62 -e I 2 2 E 9 2 INVENTOR. 9 9 9 FRANK E. T yon n f BY 77 A TTORNEY Sept. 3, 1940. F; E. TAYLOR BOTTLE TRANSFER DEVICE Filed Sept. 20. 1937 2,. &beats-Sheet 2 9 INVENTOR.

BY FRhNK E. THYLOR NE/W j 74.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 3, 1940 hartat stms rATENt OFFHCE claima.

The invention relates to a continuously operable device for removing bottles from open cases thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a particularly effective device for removing bottles from cases having sides which extend above the containecl bottles.

Another object is to provide an improved bottle transfer device having batteries of bottlem gripping tongs arranged to engage and remove the bottles from successive cases as the cases are :moved in a straight line at a uniform speed.

A further object is to provide for adjustment of the apparatus to handle bottles which are of difierent heights and/or are difierently spaced in the cases which contain them.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth or be apparent in the following description of a typical embodiment thereof, and in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bottle transfer unit embodying the features of present invention and associated with conveyors for the bottle cases and the bottles therefrom. i Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged fragmentary ver tical sectional views taken respectively at bottlegrlpping. and bottle-releasing parts of the trans- :n fer unit.

Flgure 4 is an enlarged tragmentary vertical section at 4-4 in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an eniarged fragmentary and inside View of a chain conveyor oi' the unit.

:L' Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 6-6 in Figure 2 and showing a bottle-gripping tong of the structure.

Figure 7 is a section at 1-1 in Figure 6. As is particularly illustrated, the features of .m present invention are incorporated in the structure of a bottle transfer unit 8 which is arranged to remove bottles 9 from cases Il moving on a conveyor [2 and a rollway l3, and deposit the removed bottles on a conveyor ll. The conveyor !2 may comprise any suitable arrangement which positively moves filled cases H forwardly in a straight line and in equaliy spaced relation beneath the transfer unit 8. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the conveyor I! is arranged to move 50 the cases ll forwardly over an horlzontally disposed slide plate IS and to deliver each case ll upon an horizontal portion oi'. the rollway !3 after the bottles in the case have been engaged by a bottle-gripping means of theunit 3. When 65 the bottles have been removed !rom engagement with a case, the emptied case is delivered upon a sloping portion of the rollway !3 for gravity removal. The bottles are arranged in orderly lines and rows in the cases in a usual manner, and may be spaced by Separator partitions iii.

The disclosed means for moving the cases il forwardly over the slide plate is comprises like sprocket chains it disposed at opposite sides of the plate and mounted on like sprocket wheels w I? fixed near the opposite ends of shafts s which are journalled on a frame structure which supports the plate it; while only one shaft i@ with its sprockets i? is shown, it will be understood that the chains i@ are continuous and i& extend around at least one other shait and sprocket-wheel assembly such as that shown. side iframe members i@ are supported on posts 25 and provide tracks for supporting the upper chain portions between the sprockets which they 20 engage, and mutually opposed link plates 22 of the chains carry push bars 23 between them for engaging behind a case H on the plate !5 for advancing the case as the chains are moved together, one sprocket shaft being suitably and 25 continuously driven. The conveyor M is of a usual belt type having its bottle-supporting portion horizonal so that bottles delivered thereon from the unit 8 may be carried away in erect position on the belt.

Brackets 24 support the slide plate ili on and between the side members !9 at opposite sides of thevplate. Guide rails 25 are mounted over and along the slide plate for guiding successive cases ll in a predetermined line of movement longitudinally along the plate, it being noted that said plate extends beyond the chain at the forward sprockets l'l. As particularly illustrated, the guide rails 25 are carried on support members 26 having their bases adjustably fixed in 40 complementary slots 21 provided in and across the plate |5 whereby the guideway provided between the guide rails 25 may be adiusted to receive bottle cases li of a particular width.

It will now be noted that the conveyors !2 and ll are in general alignment, and that the transfer unit 8 is disposed above and between them in their line for transferring bottles 9 from a case Il to the conveyor belt I4. Said unit essentially comprises a continuous chain conveyor 30 carried on sprockets mounted on a frame 32 and providing sets of bottle-gripping tongs 33 arranged in banks, said banks of tongs 33 being equally spaced along the chain conveyor. As shown, the conveyor 30 comprises' a pair of latsembly.

erally spaced sprocket chains 3| each engaging sprocket wheels 34 and 33 and 33, corresponding said wheels being respectively fixed on mutually parallel shafts 31 and 33 and 33 journalled in the frame 32. said frame comprises an upper rectangular portion of rigid structure having side members 4] connected by end members 42, and having hanger arms 43 flxedly depending from the sides 4| and carrying the sprocket shalt 33; the shafts 31 and 33 are journalle'd at opposite ends of the upper frame portion, and the chains 3| are operative in mutually parallel planes laterally of the frame 32 and perpendicular to the plane of the upper frame portion'provided by? the members 4| and 42.

For a reason to be hereinafter brought out, the frame 32 is so mounted and disposed that it is vertically adjustable and has the diiferent conveyor portions which respectively extend between the sprockets 34 and and between the sprockets 35 and 33 making like angles A with the line of movement of the cases on the conveyor !2. v

Bracket arms 44 are provided at spaced points of the side frame members 4| to extend laterally beyondthe frame, and have mutually par- -allel jack shafts 45 swivelled therein in upright position. The shafts 45 are threaded below their swivel points and engage complementarily threaded bores provided in support posts 43 for adjustably supporting the transfer unit in place for its operation.

For efiectlng their simultaneous rotation to adjust the disposal of the unit 3. the shafts 46 carry bevel gears 41, and the gears 41 at each side of the unit engage complementary bevel gears 43 which are mounted at the extremities of a shaft 49 which is journalled in brackets !I mounted on the adjacent frame member 4l. As is particularly indicated in Figure 1, a shaft 52 is journalled on the frame 32 to extend thereacross, and is provided with worm members 53 which constantly engage worm gears 54 fixed on the difierent shafts 43. A hand crank 55 is mounted on a protruding end oi' the shaft 52 for eflecting the rotation thereof, it being understood that a rotation of the shaft 32 in either possible direction is arranged to adjustthe height of the unit 3 without changing its angular relatlon to the horizontal.

It will now be noted that the bottle-gripping tongs 33 are mounted on support bars 31 which are carried by and between corresponding links of the sprocket-mounted conveyor chains 3I. At those chain points at -which bars 31 are to be attached, the usual pair of outer link plates 53 is replaced by a member 53 which is U-shaped in cross-section and provides an ear 3! extending toward the other chain, it being understood that the sides of the member 53 are perforated for receiving the chain pins 62 in the same mann'er and spacing as the link plates which they replace. screws 33 extend through slots 34 which are provided in and across the end por- 'tions of the bars 51 and into threaded engagement with the ears 3! for fixing the bar ends to the members 53 and so to the chains of which the members are parts. In this manner, any number and arrangement of bars 31 may be. mounted on and between the chains 3I, and the mounted, bars of a bank thereof may be adjustably spaced longitudinally of the conveyor as- For x:purposes of illustr'ation, the 'unit 3 is shown 'as particularly arra'nged for removing bottles s from cases which contain twelve botties in an orderly arrangement which is four bottles long and three hotties wide, and the present tong-carrying bars 51 are'accordingly each provided with three tong assemblies 33 appropriately spaced along the bar for simultaneously engaging the bottles of a row across the cas'e. The tongs 33` are so constituted and disposed that they permit some slight variation of bottle spacing in the rows, such variation arising from diflerences in bottle diameters and/or the thickness of the separators Io between the bottles. succession of aitemate links of the chains 3l provide a battery of twelve tongs for handling bottles from the twelve-bottle case Il which is shown.

Referring to the disclosed tong structure, the tongs 33 are seen to each comprise a pair of similar members 36 .which extend through an opening 81 in the bar 51, and are pivotally mounted on a common pivot pin 68 mounted in the bar 51 and extending across the opening 31 whereby the pivotal axis for the members 63 is longitudinal of and parallel to the link members 59 which carry the bar. Clamp jaws 63 are provided at the extremities of the tong members 33 which extend at the outer sides of the bars 51 and preferably carry more or less soft gripping elements 'H for cooperative frictional contact with the bottle necks below the usual shoulder provided adjacent the pouring lip of the bottle.

A suitable spring means is cooperative between the members 66 for urging a bottle gripping disposal of the jaws 53; as shown, a compression spring 12 is operative between the inner portions of the members 66 for the purpose. Means are preferably provided for limiting the movement of the jaws 69 toward each other, said means comprising stop members 13 adjustably mounted on the bar 51 and operative against and' between mutually opposed inner portions of the members 66 to suitably limit a closing of the tong jaws when no bottle neck is disposed between them. The generally z-shaped stops 13 are preferably shaped of spring material whereby mechanical shock may be minimized when the released members 86 engage them by reason of the action of the spring 12.

Referringnow to the cycle of Operations of the unit 8 to efl'ect the transfer oi a set of bottles 9 from a case ll to the conveyor belt !4, it will be noted that the bottles are arranged to be gripped and carried `by a corresponding set 'or bank of tongs 33 only while the tongs travel in straight and upwardly inclined lines between the sprockets 35 and 36. As a tong carrying a 'bottle approaches the end of its operative travel. its inner arms are wedgedly engaged and forced toward each other to open the tongs and release the bottle by their engagement with wedge plates 14 which are mounted on the !rame 32 adjacent the sprocket shaft 33. After the bottle is released, the tong moves out of engagement with the plates 14 whereby it may close to the limit permitted by the stops 13. The tong remains fully closed until the bar 51 which carries it is moving between the sprockets 34 and 35, at which time the inner tong extremities engage wedge plates 15 which are operative to open the tongs for freely spanning the bottle necks as 'the tong moves in its forwardly descending line toward the bottle to be gripped. As the tong 'starts movement in its ascending line o! motion, ?lt is moved out of engagement with the wedge Four bars 51 connecting a` plates for its release to grip the bottle neck which is then disposed between its laws. As particularly shown, the wedge members 14 are independently mounted on a plate 13 fixed to and between the frame sides ll, said members being adjustable in their monnting so that they will properly engage the tong members 66 for opening the tong to release the bottle at proper time. The wedge members 'IB are in-' dependently mounted on a plate 11 fixed to and between the lower extremities of the frame extensione 43 which carry the shaft 38, and are adjustable in their mounting so that the opened tongs may freely receive the top of the bottle neck to be engaged. It will be' understood that the adjustment of the members 15 of a bar 51 may provide for the reception and gripping of rows of bottles having slightly different spacings in their rows.

The conveyors |2 and 38 are arranged to be driven at fixed relative speeds such that the component of the speed of the article-carrying portion of the conveyor 30 in a line parallel to the feeding line of the conveyor |2 i's equal to the speed of feeding in the latter line. Also, the horizontal spacing of the tongs 33 is equal to the spacing of bottles in the case ll whereby the bottles of a set hanging vertically from a bank of tongs 33 are mutually spaced as they were in the ase from which they were extracted; it is for meeting this requirement that the tong-supporting bars 51 are adjustably mounted on the chains in the described manner. It will be understood that the casepushing bars 23 of the conveyor !2 must be so set that a case will be so moved thereby beneath a set of bars 51 as to provide for the engagement and removal of all of the bottles from the case, the rows of bottles being successively gripped by the tongs of successive bars 51. Preferably. and as shown, the outer tong portions are so shaped as to provide a horizontal engagement of their jaws with a bottle neck.

It will now be particularly', noted that the arrangement providing an angular approach and angular recession of the tongs with respect to a case ll while introducing the open tongs into the open case from above and upwardly removing the bottles from the case may eifect a change in the mutual spacing of the tong jaws of successlve rows of tongs as the tongbars 51 change from one line of movement to the other as the chains 3! pass around the sprockets 35, particularly if the tong jaws are spaced from a longitudinal conveyor line which intersects the lines connecting the centers of corresponding links of the chains 3I, said longitudinal line being hereinafter referred to as the line of travel of the conveyor 30. For minimizing the aforesaid spreading of the tongs. the tops of the bottle-eng'aging jaw members preferably lie in or adjacent the central plane of the links which carry them, this being the relation shown in the drawings. The arrangement is particularly important for the removal of bottles from cases such as the present wherein the side casing walls rise above the contained bottles to permit a stacking of filled cases one uponthe other; without such an arrangement, the :laws of a set of tongs could not both enter and lease a case Il.

Except for the slight angular spreading movement of the tong jaws as the conveyor chains 3| move in short arcs around the s`prockets 35, the movement of the tongs is entirely transverse to the plane of movement of the case as the' tongs and case are advanced in synchronism. The arrangement is also advantageous in that the jaws are rising along the bottle necks when they are rendered operative, the relation being clearly brought out in Figure 2. It will be understood that the gripped bottles of a set in the case will pull the case forwardly with them the -and over the horizontal portion of the rollway !3 until the bottles are drawn free of at least the case partitions lo.

The present unit may be readily adapted for' removing bottles from a case containing twentyfour bottles in six cross-rows of four each; it is merely necessary to replace the four bars 51 having three tongs 33 with six bars having four tongs. six chain link members 59 being provided,

at each tong bank-location for this purpose. Also, the use of other-forms and types of article-gripping devices in lieu of the specific tongs 33 may be resorted to for handling containers of different shape. it being noted, for example, that the containers might be cans having their tops open whereby tongs would be provided for operation against and inside one can 'or for simultaneously gripping a plurality of adjacent cans.

'It will be obvious that certain features of -the present apparatus aire directly applicable and/or adaptable for use in apparatus for placing bottles, or other containers, in cases. as one example, if the action were reversed by reversing the disclosed conveyors, the present arrangement for inserting the tongs in a deep case without contacting the case sides would be of value.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. the advantages of present device will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains. While I have described the features and prlnciples of operation oi' a structure which I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of my invention, I desire to have it understood that the showing is primarily illustrative, and that such changes may be made, when desired, as fall within the scope of the following claims.

I' claim:

1. In combination with a horizontal conveyor for eifecting a continuous and rectilinear feeding movement of like cases having open tops and containing articles to be transferred, a transfer unit including a continuous conveyor having successlve portions thereof sloping downwardly and upwardly with respect to a low point thereof above the path of feeding of the feeding conveyorand gripping tongs carried by the transfer conveyor and arranged to supportingly engage a said article in a case on the first conveyor when the tongs are substantially at the aforesaid low point of the conveyor, the articlegripping jaws of said tongs lying substantially in the line of travel of the second conveyor whereby said :laws are arranged to` travel solely vertical with respect to the case as they approach and leave the aforesaid point.

2. In combination with a horizontal conveyor for effecting a continuous and rectilinear feeding movement of like cases 'having open tops and containing an orderly array of articles to be transferred, a. transfer unit including a continuous conveyor having successivo portions Thiis,

thereof sloping downwardly and upwardly with i article grippers carried by 'the transfer conveyor for engaging the articles in successive cases when the articles and grippers are disposed acuacent and beyond the aforesaid point of the transfer conveyor.

' 3. A structure in accordance with claim 2 having adjustable means to adjust the relative spacing of the gripper of the sets thereof for conformity with the relative spacing of the arrays of articles in the cases.

4. In combination with a, substantially horizontal conveyor for affecting a continuous and rectilinear feeding movement of a succession of articles thereon toward a fixed and predetermined point in a fixed path, a transfer unit including a continuous conveyor movable in a fixed path overlyng the line of the first path and having successive portions thereof sloping downwardly and upwardly with respect to a fixed point opposite the first said point and making equal angles with the feeding path of the first conveyors, and an article-gripping means carried by the transfer conveyor and operative substantially in the line of travel thereof to support-ingly engage an article on the first conveyor when said means are substantially at the aforesaid low point of the conveyor.

5. In combination with a horizontal conveyor for affecting a continuous and rectilinear feeding movement of articles thereon to be transferred, a transfer unit including a'continuous conveyor having successive portions thereof sloplng downwardly and upwardly with respect to a low point thereof above the path of feeding of the feeding conveyor,` and an article support carried by the transfer conveyor and arranged to supportingly engage a said article on the ,first conveyor when the support is substantially at the aforesaid low point of the conveyor, the article-gripping means of s'aid support lying substantially in the line of travel of the second conveyor whereby said means are arranged to travel solely vertical with respect to the first conveyor as they approach and leave the aforesaid point.

6. In a device for removing articles from a support surface on which they gravitally rest in a line thereof, a frame, a, continuous conveyor carried by the frame and actuatable longitudinally thereof in a fixed path relative to the frame and overlying said support surface. and

having successive portions thereof sloping downy wardly and upwardly with respect to a low point actuating said conveyor at such a speed and in such a direction that no relative movement' of the support surface and the upwardly sloping conveyor portion occurs in the direction of relative movement of the surface and frame.

FRANK E. TAYLOR. 

